A visit to the hospital with Shelby

Shelby let us join her on her rounds at Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa yesterday.

We started on the second floor waiting rooms for critical and intensive care patients. We met 4 different families yesterday, some had been at the hospital for 24 hours. Sometimes we have great conversations with the families, sometimes they pet and talk to Shelby. We spent more than an hour visiting those 2 waiting rooms. One lady sat on the floor with Shelby and talked about her friend that was in surgery. Her dog bit her friend and you could see in her eyes how concerned she was for the both of them.

After we left the waiting rooms we went to the 3rd floor, pediatric ward. We visited 6 kids along with their brothers and sisters. One the kids was about 18 months old and just had a ball with Shelby. Big grin, giggles, everyone in the room had a big smile on their face. We moved to the next room and both of the girls recognized Shelby from a prior visit. Not only were they friends, they also were in the hospital at the same time. One of the girls told us she wondered how Shelby was and what she was up to. The second girl had an oxygen mask on and wasn’t supposed to be talking so her friend told us that after Shelby’s previous visit, she wanted a dog of her own. Turns out she couldn’t have a dog, so she bought a big stuffed Golden Retriever…and named her Shelby!

Both Cindi and I were speechless, stunned, proud and humbled. I told her that’s about the nicest thing I’ve heard in a quite a while and thanked her. I teared up a bit and continued on with the visit.

We were at the hospital for about 3 hours and then on to Five Guys for peanuts, cheeseburgers and fries. When we got home Shelby jumped on her couch and fell asleep. As she was sleeping I looked at her and thought how blessed we are that she came to live with us.

7 Comments

By: Jana Mauk on February 23, 2014 at 6:22 pm

Shelby is so special…what more can I say! She brings so much comfort & joy to those who meet her. She has such a gift, and I pray she continues her therapy work for many years. Mom and Dad are pretty special also. Love to you all.
Jana

By: Linda Chase on February 23, 2014 at 6:28 pm

The love of dogs is boundless. Sometimes I think they care about humans more than they do themselves! What a true giver Shelby is, brings such happiness and comfort to those who need it so much! We can all learn a lesson from our pets who love us!!

Shelby, the work that you and your people do is changing lives, it truly is. Each person you touch, each child that smiles because of you, spreads love all over the world, it’s truly contagious. These are wonderful examples.

Thank you for making us smile today, you always know how to light up the day. It’s great to hear from you.

By: Lynn M on February 24, 2014 at 10:59 pm

Why do I always get so teary-eyed when I read about Shelby?! What a sweetie!